Shatterpoints
by Pinkmoon
Summary: A series of drabblish one-shots exploring the different moments of those who lived in the Bible. Or an attempt to get inside the heads of Bible characters.
1. Adam

Adam

"_And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…"_

_Genesis 2:23_

"…_she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."_

_Genesis 3:6_

He's not quite sure just what it is he feels. Horrified, possibly and there's a deep, crushing _something_ he's never felt before and a voice in his head that's telling him to _run, now! Run because you really don't want to do this. _Yet his feet refuse to listen.

She stands before him, smiling softly, juices staining her lips red and the crushing feeling intensifies. His throat tightens and he tries to swallow and can't and that's _never_ happened before. She's disobeyed and he can only hear the voice (_you do NOT want to do this!_) and the dreaded warning (_thou shalt surely die_) and he can't stand it. The thought of losing her has left his mind in shambles and he can't bear to think of life without her. He doesn't want to go back to the existence before her. Back when he could feel something was missing and he wasn't quite sure what. Then Elohim created her and gave her to him. He finally was not alone, that fundament part of him that had always been missing was filled. Everything was perfect and complete. _This_ was never supposed to happen.

He wants to ask her just what she thinks she has done, ask her why but that hardly matters. She will die when Elohim comes tonight, he is sure of it, and she stands holding out the fruit wanting him to join her. He sees only two choices; he does not want either one. But Elohim will come soon and the thought makes his throat tighten and his stomach clench hard. He looks at her gentle eyes and soft smile and decides. The first bite is strangely sweet.


	2. Ahab

Ahab

_And Elijah said unto them, Take_ _the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. _

_And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for__ there is__ a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink._

I Kings 18:40-42

It's the sight of Elijah covered in the blood of the prophets that keeps Ahab silent. His garments are soaked red and crimson drops run down his face. His eyes are hard and steely and his steps sure. In this moment, he looks more like a ferocious soldier than a man of God. A tiny voice inside Ahab wonders if he should continued trying to destroy this man when Ahab could simply have such boldness under his command. Then he remembers Jezebel and quickly crushes the thought

When Elijah finally speaks, Ahab bristles at the dismissive tone and is about to remind the prophet that he _is_ the king of Israel and no one talks to him like that. Before he does, those steely eyes framed by blood fasten on his and Elijah promises him rain. He promises him rain after three years of drought.

It's the promise of rain that makes Ahab obey.


	3. Paul

Paul

_And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. _

_Acts 7:59-60_

The irony is not lost on him. They're going to stone him and he's going to die the same way as Stephen. He's trying vainly not to think of Stephen and blood and that gentle, sad look but he finds the task difficult. The guilt threatens to consume and blind him but he refuses to let that be the last emotion he'll ever feel. He drags the guilt and locks it away deep in his brain. All that leaves him is fear.

He's praying but his thoughts are little more than a jumble of nonsense words and _pleasepleasepleaseGod. _He doesn't know if he's praying for a miracle or a quick, easy death. All he knows is that he can't do this alone.

The first stone strikes and the pain stabs and throbs. Then there's a rain of stones and rocks and he curls in on himself. There's no heavenly vision, no words of forgiveness spilling from his mouth and no peace. He doesn't stare steadfastly at the sky and he can't think straight enough to even attempt it. As a stone strikes the back of his head and the pain blinds him to everything else, he absently thinks that his death is nothing like Stephen's.

_And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. __Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe._

_Acts 14:19-20_


	4. James

James

Half-brother of Christ

_AN: So I normally don't leave one of these but I felt I needed to explain somethings. I took a great deal of artistic license with this one and worked off of a couple of assumptions. The two main ones were that John, the beloved disciple, was a cousin of Christ and the other was that Jesus brothers were in Jerusalem for the Passover at the time of His death and resurrection. The Bible teaches that Jesus brothers didn't believe He was the Messiah until after Christ's Resurrection and you find them with the other believers right before Pentecost. James was the oldest of Jesus' four younger, half brothers. This is an exploration of what he might have been feeling between those three days. _

* * *

His brother is dead.

His brother is dead. Nailed to a cross like a common thief and dead. Sealed away in a tomb that didn't even belong to them and dead. His big brother is dead.

For the past three days, James has existed in a daze, walking through the streets of Jerusalem aimlessly and trying to avoid the slew of relatives in the city for the Passover. He also is trying to avoid his mother, inconsolable in her grief and frightening in the hollow appearance she has donned.

He goes to the garden John had told him about. The one his brother had gone to the night before he was...well, the night before. He walks carelessly among the olive trees and eventually collapse in the midst of the garden.

His brother is dead.

A part of James hates his brother for what he has done. Hates him for making insane claims, for dragging twelve men down with him, for always being the favorite, the perfect one. For being loved by the mass even through the Pharisees cried blasphemy. For being the one who always ratted them out when James and his other brothers started poking their noses where they didn't belong. For saying Joseph wasn't his father. (Maybe Joseph hadn't truly been his older brother's father, but the man had fulfilled the role in every way that counted.)

And yet, there is another part of James that...that is consumed by memories...

Running through the tiny house,chasing each other, driving their mother mad...

Sneaking into his brother's bed in the middle of the night, after a bad dream, especially when Joseph was away...

His brother scaring off the rabbi's son who called James's mother something horrid so James insulted the rabbi and the rabbi's son decided a more physical reaction was required. After James' brother was done talking to the boy, the rabbi's son avoided James like the plague...

Sitting in the shop, after working with their father most of the day, silence settling gently over them, looking up at his brother to ask a question only to stop at the sad, haunted look in his brother's eyes...

Laughing, teasing their sister the night before her wedding...

Listening to Joseph reading from the Law...

His brother's calm presence always there...

The hurt, sad look in his brother's eyes when they mocked him for claiming to be the Son of God...

Jesus is dead. And James has never been so consumed with regret. And love.

* * *

_On a historical note, James later went on to believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be and became the leader of the Church in Jerusalem. He wrote the Book of James in the Bible and, according to tradition, was martyred in Jerusalem. _


	5. Hosea

Hosea

_Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband __...__For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers__... _Hosea 2:2,5

The house is empty today. His children are in the courtyard, playing and chasing each other and generally being a nuisance to the rest of his neighbors. His wife...he wish he knew. Just a year ago (_had it really been a year? The pain still felt as fresh as the day she left_), she had gone to the market and never returned. He cannot bear looking at his children(t_hey all have her _beautiful,bewitching_ eyes_). The pain is too great.

So instead, he sits on the ground, back against the rough wall and knees curled up to his chest. Tears slip from his eyes but he ignores them. He can hear his children screaming and laughing but chooses to ignore that too. Rather, he focuses on memories that he keeps locked away most days in order to function and at least attempt to appear put together.

He can remember the feel of her hair, soft and surely finer than any silk man could find. He remembers her smile, rare and all the more precious for its rarity. He remembers her dark, entrancing eyes, eyes that ensnared him at their first meeting and would not let him go.

He remembers her singing Jezreel, their first born, to sleep. He remembers her braiding their daughter's hair. He remembers her cuddling their youngest in the middle of the night and crying while he lay still, pretending to sleep and not understanding.

He remembers her aloofness and the strange longing in her dark, dark eyes that never went away. He remembers kissing her and knowing that she wasn't there.

He remembers the night she didn't come home. He remembers searching for her and then finding her, only...only she was in the arms of another man. He remembers the anger, the betrayal. But mostly, he remembers the distain and hate in her entrancing, bewitching cold eyes. And so, he let her go.

And now, he hates himself for it. And maybe, a small part of him hates her too.

"Papa..."

The small, soft voice startles him and he looks up to see his tiny daughter. Her eyes (_her_ eyes) are filled with confusion and worry and love and...(_and he had never see that in _her _eyes_).

"Come here, little one," he whispers, holding out his arm. She immediately curls up against his side and leans her head on his breast.

"It's alright, Papa," she whispers, "I miss her too."

He cuddles her closer and kisses her temple, breaths in her clean scent.

His wife may hate him but she left him with three precious gifts. And so, he cannot hate her. And he cannot stop loving her.

_Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth__... _Hosea 2:14-15

* * *

So, for those not familar with the story, Hosea was a prophet during the end of the time of the divide kingdom of Israel. Most scholars agree that the first three chapers of the the Book of Hosea record his marriage to Gomer, a woman who eventually left him and led a life of prostitute. In the end, Hosea found her on the slave market and bought her back and restored her to her position as his wife. God used this story to show His love for the adulterous nation Israel who had turned her back on God to follow idols.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed and please review. And a big thanks to those who already have. Your reviews both encourage me and guilt me into writing in a semi-timely manner. Obviously this doesn't always work but still. I really do appreciate it.


	6. Jochebed

Jochebed

_And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall ct into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive._

_Exodus 1:22_

When they first told her that she had given birth to a son, she had sobbed uncontrollably and refused to look at the babe. How could she? How could she allow herself to fall in love with the tiny creature she would have to cast into the river to die? The midwives had left her to her grief and taken the child to her husband

Alone, she had glared at the roof of their tiny home and demanded to know why. Why had God given her a child she would only have to kill? Why had He given her a son instead of a little girl who could live and grow without fear of the king's commandment?

"Jochebed..." h2er husband whispers hours or maybe days later. She does not know nor care. Her new-born son is dead or good as and she does not _care _(_lies, lies, lies)_.

"Is it done? Is he gone?" she does not look at him. Can not bear to wonder if her infant son had her husband's eyes or mouth or...

She feels her husband settle next to her. "Jochebed, look," he commands softly.

Stiffly she turns her head and breaks out sobbing again. In his strong arms, Amram cradles a tiny, sleeping babe with a perfect face and perfect fingers and perfect _everything._

"Why?" she sobs. Why torture her so? Why give her the one thing she cannot keep?

"He's beautiful," Amram says, gazing at the child in his arms, ignoring her question.

"Yes," she whispers brokenly. She does not reach out to touch him. If she does, then she will not let the child go and he must go, because a king commanded so.

Amram rocks the child and hums softly, a lullaby he had sung when Miriam was born and again when Aaron had come two years later. She watches, enchanted by the small creature and the large strong man holding him so gently. Her little baby is perfect. How can they cast him away?

"He...he will not go to the river," Amram declares softly, once the song is finished

"What?" Jochebed knows what will happen if they do not obey the king's command. She thinks of Miriam and Aaron and fears. She thinks of her new-born and aches. It is an impossible choice.

Amram meets her eyes, determined and firm. "Our son _will not_ go to the river. I promise you, whatever it takes, our son _will not_ die."

She knows that Amram will die to protect his son, knows that they will all die when they are discovered. Because she also knows that she cannot hide the child forever, it would be impossible to try.

"What will we do?" The task of hiding a newborn while caring for a five year old and three year old overwhelms her. But she cannot _not _try.

"We will trust God. He will save our son from Pharoah."

She lifts a trembling hand and _finally _traces her son's delicate features. She will trust her son to God. It's the only hope she has left.

_By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment_

_Hebrews 11:23_


End file.
